Plymouth County, Massachusetts - Chapter 4: Ecclesiastical History (1 of 2 so headed), 1884 (part 2 of 2)

"That they uieet together at y*^ Nevf Meeting houjie in s"^ Parri:^h on y^ Tentli Day of this Inot., Nov., at lU o'clock In >-= forenoon, to licar the report of the Com. that was to treat with those persons that built t'^ House, and to see if s^ House may be tlie Parrish House, and if it becomes the Parrish House, to set the time when to go to work about removing it. And if it do not become tbe Parrish House, to cum into Some Measures about Building a new one, and also to do any thing that may be tbot proper at s"^ Meeting.

atfair, report as followeth, viz.. That Noah Sprague will give one-<^{uarter of his in s'* house to s'J Parrish ; y^' Widdo Holmes gives in y" same manner; Nicholas Snow Si Nath" Snow give ! their right to s*^ Parrish ou condition that they are at no charge in removing it and seting it up aa fur us y*-' same materials will admit: Thomas Whitridg gives his right to s'l Parrish; Mark Haskel gives his right, being that part that was Ellas Miller's, to y*-' Parrish, provided it stands between tlie cross- ' road by Tbo" Ashley's k Whitfield's; Tho^ Ashley gives his right on same conditions ; iVter Crapo gives accoidingly.

" Com'^-, " At s^ Meeting the Question was put, Whether the Parrish i will accept of s^ House on y^ terms as is reported ; it pasv' in y*^ Negative.

j " On a Motion made Jc seconded, y*-* above Vote was reconsidered. And voted to accept of y« Meeting House as a Parri.-h j IIou/>e on y« Terms as was reported, .lud at v' Meeting voted i that Monday be tbe day to begin to take down ,t move \ '^ I Meeting House.

'- And at s'i Meeting, voted that Noah Sprague, .lu-.-ph A^h- I ley, John Peterson, Mark Haskel, and Jetliro A.^hky be a Com**-' to Pitch on a Convenient spot of ground to Sett y- Meeting House on between the cross-road by Tliu^ AsblcyS and Mr. ' Whitfield's.

" At a Meeting of y« 0^ Church in Rochester, Xc. on Friday, ( y Twelfth Day of May, .\.D. 1740, The above answers wen- read .t accepted by y« Church.

" In porsuanoe Whereof, at a meeting uf y*^ o'' Parrish in Rochester, Ac, ou Munday, ye 26 Day of .September, 174'J, Legally Warned, Tbe Question was put whether the Parrish will assign one-Eighth part of s** Parrish Meeting H<mse for y"-' use of tbe h^ Indians to attend the Publick Worship in, upwn condition the Commissrs for propagating y^" Gosfiel among y- Indians will pay one-eighth part of y cost of s'* House to ^ ' P:irri.-ih on orders, Estimating s*^ House when Fini.-hed at Eight Hundred pounds old Tonor, and it pass' in the allirniative.

Tlie parisli records from which were copied the forcgoiiij; fueta coucernin^ ihe Third Parish of Rochester, aud the adjoiniug towus of MiJdleboro', Dartmouth, Hod Freetown, were very iutelligibly and concisely kept from March 22, 1747. to Marcii 18, 1783, or about ten years prior to the date when the present Nortli Rochester Parish, part of which is in Middlcboro', was incorporated, and those records are deemed to be tile bust and most reliable evidence now extant of the early religious condition of that part of Middleburo' now within the North Rochester Parish, and this is the excuse now offered why the same have been so liberally copied and extensively used in connection with the history of the North Rochester Parish.

The Central Congregational Church. - This religious body was organized in the meeting-house of the Fir>t Precinct, March 25, 1847, and at its formation consisted of thirty-three members, all of whom were, at their own request, dismissed from the First Congregational Church in Middleboro', aud cordially recommended for the enterprise. They built au elegant place of public worship at the Four Corners Village in 1S49, and on the lljth of August of that year Rev. Isaiah C. Thacher was installed pastor ; Horatio G. Wood, Ebenezer Pickens, and James D. Wilder were chosen deacons.

The additions to this church were: In 1847, three; 1848, four; 1849, ten; 1S50, forty five; 1851, ten; aud iu 1S52, five; and the names of the original members, together with those added from year to year, were as follows :

Rev. Isaiah C. Thacher, the first pastor of this church, was a graduate of Union College in 1841. He had been settled in the tiospel ministry at Mattapoi-sett before coming to Middleboro'.

The Separatist Church. - As one of the direct results of the preaching of Rev. George Whitefield in this country came a division in the Congregational Church of New England, which separation or division has widened until it is now principally noticeable in the two sects termed Trinitarian and Unitarian Congregationaliats. But all who at that time left the " Old Light" Congregationalists did not go with the other branch of that church, as some became Culvinistic Baptists, and some stopped a step short of that, calling themselves simply " Separatists" or " Comeouters" from the Congregationalists.

At least one Separatist Church was formed in Middleboro', and remained a distinct religious assembly until the death of its minister, when it ere long became merged in the Second Calvinlstic Baptist Church, then in Middleboro' (now Lakeville). The place of public worship of that Separatist Church was at " Beech Woods," so called, and they appear to have purchased a church edifice standing in East Freetown, and removed it to Beech Woods, iu Middleboro', which house of public worship finally came to be occupied by the Second Calvinistic Baptist Church of Middleboro', and was thus used as a place of public worship until May 19, 1798, when it was accidentally destroyed by fire, that at the same time

Tliat church edifice burned IMay 19, 1798, was built near tlie site of the former residence of tlie late Rev. George Tyler, in East Freetown, and removed to Boech Wood.s, tlien in Middleburo' (now in Lakevillo), between the years 1741! and 1751. At a subseciueut date the Calvinittic Baptists put up a inectiiiLi-liouse in East Freetown, nearer the line of New Bedlord, which came to be called the "Elder Abner Lewis meetinghouse," that was long since demolished, and this explanation is given that the reader may not mistake one for the other, or suppose these church edifices to have been identical.

Of that Separati.-it Church at Beech Woods Rev. James Mead was ordained paator Oct. 3, 1751, and he died Oct. 2, 1750. These Separatists joined with the people who sat under the preaching of Rev. Ebeuezor Iliuds, and he was ordained the pastor of those united bodies of people Jan. 2G, 1758. At a council held at Titicut May 27, 1752, the Separatist Church at Beech Woods was represented by Rev. James Mead and Deacon William Smith.

The Calvinistic Baptists. - That very prolific writer, Rev. Cotton Mailier, of Boston, is our autliority for saying that many of tlie first or earliest European Settlers of Massacliusetts were Baptists, and to tliis he added that " they were as holy, and watchful, and fruitful, and heavenly a people as perhaps any in the world." The position occupied by Rev. Cotton Mather was not at all calculated to prejudice his mind in favor of the Calvinistic Baptists as a religious denomination, but, on the contrary, against it ; and hence a compliment of this kind, coming from his pen, may justly be considered as praise of the highest order.

The oldest Baptist Church in America is that in Providence, R. L, formed in 1639, and the oldest in Masrtachus-etts is that in Swansea, formed in 1GG3. The Second Baptist Church of Ma.'isachusetts in point of afire is at Boston, organized in IGtJo.

Calvinistic Bapii>t Churches were formed in different parts of Ma.-isacliusctts before the close of the seventeenth century, ;is follovvs: Tiverton, then in i\lassachusetts, but now in Rhode Island, in KiSS; Chilmark, in 1C93; and a second church at Swansea, in 1(193.

The earliest formation of Calvinistic Baptist Churches in Massachusetts in the eighteenth century were the following: South Brinifield, in 173G ; Leicester, 1738; Second in Boston, 1743; Bcllingham, 1750; Rehoboth, 1753; First in Middleboro', in 175G; Second in Middleboro' (now Lakeville), in 1757; and the third in Middleboro', 17G1.

** I went curly to pour out my soul to God, an J wa^ enatluj to rust all ujy alVitira wilU biui, and espucialty tiiu wuik ul' lliid day, for nouo of tlie elders that were aunt for were yut cuiiie, and I found a measure of willingness to leave the case with the Loni to sen<l whom lie pleased.

'* Nut lon^ after came Elder Ltouiid and Deacon Culllus from the Baptist Church in Boston, and Elder liuund and Est|uiie Bullock and Joshua Briggs, brethren from the ;!!ecoud liiiptist Church in Rehoboth.

'* And they proceeded to read the letters from us and their churches* answer thereto, and enibodied into a council and oliosti Elder Hound Moderator, ami Elder Bound Clerk ; atid after inquiring into the priueiples aud standing b(jth of the ehureb and uiyself, and of our coming together in this relation, they declared themselves satistieil therewith.

**Then these two elders laid on hands, and ICtdcr Uuund mado the first prayer and gave the charge, and Elder Itfiund gave the Right Hand of Fellowship and made the last prayer.

A revival of religion was felt in this first Baptist Ciiureh, which began in the latter part of 1778, and immediately preceding which the Rev. Mr. Backus said that for five years " coldness aud stupidity had greatly prevailed therein." 'That revival," said the same authority, " was at its height in July, 1780." Mr. Backus continued: "The first person added to the church in this revival was on February 28, 1779," aud ere long tlie number received had increased to eii;hty-tive, about two-thirds of whom were residents of Biidgcwater, and in which town a huge Baptist meeting-house was soon after built, and the hi.-tory of this church is, perhaps, in fact, as much, or even mure, a part of the liistory of Bridgewater than of Middleboro', although those who assembled for worship in that large lueetiug-house became a separate body of worshipers, and employed another minister, while still constituting a branch of this first C.dviuistie Baptist Church.

Of this church, Mr. Backus said that, at its tbrniatioo, " it was tlie only Baptist Church iu an exteut of country of above a iiunJred miles long, - from BelrniL;ham to the euJ of Cape Cod, and near fifty miles wide betweeu Bostou aud Kehoboth."

Their uumber was small for many years, though tliey bad some reviving from time to time, until such a work came on iu 1779 as increased their number iu three years from fifty-nine to one hundred and thirtyeight. Aud in forty years they buried tliirty-four, dismissed sixty-one, and excluded twelve, while DJuety-oue members remained.

" Scveu members of this church," said Backus, have been ordaiued to the work of the gospel ministry, namely : James Mellen, Abner Lewis, Asa Hunt, Elijah Codding, Job Macomber, Samuel Nelson, aud David Leonard, the last of whom was ordained as an itinerant, December 17, 1794." Rev. Isaac Backus, the first pastor of this church, died at his post and while still engaged in the work of the gospel ministry, having " never changed or wished to ciiange his place."

"As It Christian and Minister the character of this man was truly eon^))ieuous. As pa.'^tor of u ctturcb iu this town, fur liftyeij^lit years, he was ciiiineutly useful aud beloved, lli.-^ domestic aud relative duties, as a husband and parent, were disehur;^ed with lidelity, tenderness, and atfeetiou. His y.eal and persevering iniiu.-try in the cause of civil and relij^ious liberty, tltrtiuj^h a lung laburioua life, is still manifest in bis writings as an Historian of tbe I>aptist denominatiou, and defender of the truths of the ductrinc of Christ. Having uniformly borne testimony in his life, conversation, and ministry, of his ardent love to his Divine .Master and the ditctrino of the Cross, in an advanced uge he was called from his beloved charge, and numerous Christian friends and bretbrea, to sleep in Jesus, and bis spirit into the garner of bis heavenly Father, as a shock of corn fully ripe.

Concerning this First Baptist Church in Middleboro' the Rev. S. Hopkins Emory, while pastor of the Congregational Church at Titicut, North Middleboro', remarked, -

** A large number of ministers have gone forth from this, the First Baptist Cbureli of Middlcborougb, which has well earned the title not only of mother of churches but of mother of ministers; the list being as follows; James Mellen, Abner Lewis, Asa Hunt, Elijah Codding, Job Macomber, Samuel Nelson,

"The last named recently died, having hlled with great promise of usefulness and euiinence in bis profession tbe othce of jtrofessor of Ecclesiostical History to Madison University, Hamilton, N. Y., deeply lamented by all who Inul watched itis progress, and had such high hopes concerning his future."

An ancient queen when inquired of concerning her jewels is said to have pointed proudly to her cliildren aud said, "These are my jewels;" and in this attempt to write the history of this mother of Calvinistic Baptist Churches, and as Rev. Mr. Emory trutblully adds, the mother al.so of Calvinistic Baptist ministers, may we uot be excused for occupying some space in this publication in giving brief notices of several of these, her children, bright jewels in the crown of her everlasting rejoicing.

He was the second pastor of the Baptist Church at Brimfield, which Rev. Isaac Backus iufurms us was the first or earliest church of this denominatiou gathered within the limits of Hampshire County, it having been formed Nov. 4, 1736, Rev. Ebenczer Moulton being the same day ordained as its pastor.

James Mellen was the immediate successor of Mr. Moulton in the ministry at Brimfield. Sir. Mellen was ordaiued pastor of the Brimfield Baptist Church Sept. 11, 1765.

Mr. Backus further wrote concerning Mr. Mellon, " ilo was a faithful and successful pastor until lie finished his course in a joyful munuer Aug. 5, 1709.''

Abner Lewis was born in Middleboro', March 16, 1745, and joined the First Baptist Church of this town in 1705, or when he was about twenty years of age, and began to preach in 1770, improving bis gifts at East Freetown as early as 1773, his labors there being blessed.

A Calvinistic Baptist Church was formed in East Freetown Sept. 13, 1775, of which Abner Lewis was ordained pastor June 26, 1776. Here his ministerial labors were so successful that four years later this church had increased to oue hundred and twenty-eight luembers, and had erected a church edifice near what is now known as the '- county road," and not far from the line that divides Freetown from New Bedford.

"'The publio difBoulties in the country, with the unhappy temper of some of the members of tbe church, caused Mr. Lewis to ask a disinissioo from them, which be obtained in August, 17 34.

** * Ttie behavior of some in tbi^ cburcii bas cnujfeJ a niimbtr tu uai^ UDii receive Uisuii^^^ious from it tu utber cburclie:>, wliilu iouie have died and others removed away, uutii tbey have becuiuc very 5Uiall/ - aod to this tealimuuy of the trutliful Eaekus we ean now, with eijual truth, add that thia bouse, thus ' divided against itself,' so fell tliat not only was one stone not left ujion another, but in the locality where it ouce existed and tlourished nearly all knowledge of its history is lost io forgctfulness and bulled iu ubliviun. From Noveiuber, 17^U, to Septenibei', 17'JJ, Rev. Abner Lewis was pastor of tlie North Baptist Church in Attlcborouyh. ile traveled and j)reaelicil in various places, and for a tiuie filled a pulpit in Harwich, on Cape Cod,

-* Asa Hunt was born at liraintree, Maas., in July, 1744. He preached for a tirue in Kaynharu, and WUS ordained [lastor of the Third Calvinistie Uaptist Church iu iliddleborough, Oct. .10, 1771. His ordin.atiun sermon was preached by Rev. Isaac Uachus, from - Cor. iii. chap, fi verse, * Wlio alstj bath luatle us able uiiniutera of the new tcstaincul; nut of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit givcth life' The sermon was published under the title of ' Evangelical Ministers described and distinguished frora Legalibta.' Backus' history informs that the Third Baptist Church in Middleborougb gave the Kev. Asa Hunt ' a good place for a settlement, beside the use of the Uliniateriat lot.'

-' His preaching was acceptable, . . . and such u work of the .Spirit of God began among them in March, 1780, as caused the addition of one hundred and thirteen meutbers to their church by September, 17SU, wbeu they bad one hundred and ninetyfour in all.

" But in time of gicat changes in our country about money and worldly property, Mr. Hunt entangled himself so much in the alfairs of this life as caused much unhappiness, and he in- Slated upon a dismission from bis church, which they granted, though with reluctance, in December, 17S'J.

'* Ho had been on a journey into Virginia (where he preached to good purpose! the year before, and he traveled into New Jersey and Pennsylvania after his dismission, but he never removed hia family.

*' lie was called to visit bis eldest son, who was sick with the dysentery in the college at Providence, where the fattier was seized with the same distemper and died there Se|it. 2U, 17U1."

Elijah Coddioj; was the successor of Rev. James Melluii as pastor of tlie Baptist Church in lirinifield, where he was ordained to the work of the gospel ministry Nov. 11, 1773. Backus says of Rev. Elijaii Codding and iiis ministry, " And tliough it was a low time with them at South Brimticid for some years, yet such a heavenly shower was granted iu 1779 as increased their numbers from twenty-three to two hundred and thirty-six in four years."

Job Macombcr was the son of a Congregational deacou in Jliddleburo', but he became a member of the First Calvini.stic Baptist Church of that town iu 1772, and by preaching began to piomulgate its doctrines and advocate its faith and practices only two years later, lie preaclied for a time at New Gloucester, in what is now the State of Maine. A Calvinistie Baptist Church was formed at Bowdoiuliam, Mc, May 24, 1784, of which Mr. Macombcr was ordained pxitor Aug. 18, 1784.

wife, Elizabeth Rowland, and born in that part of Middleboro' which in 1853 was set ufl' and incorporated as a new town called Lakcville,' April G, 174S. His brothers, William Nelson, born July IS. 1741, and Ebenczer Nelson, born Oct. 211, 17^3, were al-o Calvinistie Baptist ministers, and bis brutlier, Anjns Nelson, born in 1743, was a deacnu. Samuel Nel.iun was a grandson of Thomas Nel.-oii, who is said to have been the first or earliest resident of Middluboii/ who became a Baptist, and joined the church of that j denomination in Swansea, many years before any I Baptist Church was gathered in Middlcburu'. ITupe I Nelson, the grandmother of Samuel, was also a B;i[i- I ti->(, and she joined the Bajiti.st Cliuich at Swan.-ea, j Aug. 5, 1723, and communed at the Luid's laliN; I witli the Seeoud Baptist Church in MidJIuboru' ^n^lW I Lakeville) when she was more than a hundred years old, and at the date of her death - viz., Dee. 7, 17S2 - had attained to the remarkable age of one hundred and five years, six months, and twenty days, her lineal descendants at that lime numbering about three hundred and thirty-seven persons. A most remarkable " Mother in Israel" was she.

Samuel Nelson was the successor of Rev. Asa Hunt in the pastoral office to the Third Calvinistie Baptist Church in Middleboro', where Mr. Nelson commenced his labors some time during the month of May, 1793, and of the condition of that church spiritually, and of the community in which it was located morally, when those labors were commenced, the historian Backus bore testimony as follows : "The church waa in low circumstances, and young people got to be .so extravagant in vanity that they could hardly be kept civil in times of public worship. " And in the beginning of the next month such a divine influence was granted that old Christians became all alive in religion, and such a concern for the soul and eternity appeared among old and young through all the busiest time iu the summer that they had frequent crowded meetings in season and out of season without the least disturbance from vain persons, which before were so troublc^oinc."

Mr. Saiuuel Nelson was ordained pastor of the Third Calvinistie Baptist Chuich in Sliddleboro' Jan. 16, 1794, and within the year following about thirty persons were added to this church. Rev. Samuel Nelson continued to be the minister of this church until his death, that called him from the field of his faithful labors to the place of rewards, Sept. 9,

' The legal voters of what is now Lakeville had votcil hy a decided majority to call their town Nelson, but tliis being discouraged by the members of that family for whom the honor was intended, it was afterwards changed tu the name it now bears.

Diivid Leonard. About tlio time of attainin;.; to lii.s niiijority he tooiv tlie additional name of Augustus, and was afcorwards known as David A. Leonard. He was a son of David Leonard and wife (Mary Hall), i and born at 15ridgewater, Mass., Sept. 15, 1771. David A. Leonard graduated at Brown University, Providence, R. I., in 1702, and was ordained to the work of the gospel ministry Dec. 17, 1794. The services of his ordination were performed at Bridgewater, whore a sermon was preaclied by Rev. Thomas Baldwin, of Boston, which sermon was printed. The historian Backus says that Mr. Leonard was ordained 3:3 an itinerant, and so he seems to have been, as in 1795 we find him piustor of a Baptist Church in Ti.sbury, Dukes Co., Mass., and from July 1, 179<>, to February, 1797, he was preaching upon the island of Nantucket. That he was a very zealous Christian, and most thorough Baptist, may be inferred from the fact that a seemingly well-authenticated tradition asserts that upon his conversion he was so an.\ious, yea, impatient, to submit to the ordinauce of baptism by immersion that, although it was mid-winter and the streams of New England all frozen, this was to his mind no reasonable excuse or proper hiaderance tliat he should be baptized, and a hole was therefore cut in the ice for and devoted to that purpose.

Rev. David A. Leonard for a time supplied the pulpit of the Gold Street Baptist Church, in the city of New York, and also preaclied to a Calvinistic Baptist Church then existing in and near Assonet village, in Freetown, Mass. His latter years were principally devoted to literary pursuits, and among the productions of his mind and pen that were printed and pub- Ibhed we find was a piece of poetry concerning the little village of Siasconsett ; a sermon delivered at Holmes' Harbor, Martha's Vineyard, on the death of Mr. John Holmes, Nov. 1, 1795; an oration at Nantucket at a celebration of a festival of St. John, by the Union Lodge, in 1796 ; funeral sermon in Gold Street Church, New York City, Feb. 16, 1800; an oration on the death of Gen. George Washington, delivered in the First Baptist meeting-house in New York, Feb. 22, 1800; oration at Raynham, Mass., July 5, 1802 ; oration at Dightou, Mass., July 4, 18U3 ; and an oration on the acquisition of Louisiana, delivered at Raynham, May 11, 1804.

In February, 1797, Rev. David A. Leonard was united in marriage with Mary, a daughter of Capt. Job Peirce, of Middleboro' (that part now Lakeville), and in June, 1805, Mr. Leonard removed with his family to and located in Bristol, R. I., where in January, 1806, he received the appointment of posttua.>tcr, in which position he continued until July, 1817.

While residing in Bristol, Mr. Leonard was secretary of the Bristol Insurance Company, editor and proprietor of the Bristol RepnLlican, a newspaper warmly and actively devoted to the party and admini.^tration of Thomas Jefferson, who part of that lime was President of these United States.

Added to the labors incident to all these positions, Mr. Leonard found time or at any rate took the time - perhaps from the hours in which he should have had rest - to prepare for publication a translation that he made of the New Testament, which lastnamed labor was all lost, together with about six thousand dollars' worth of his property, from the very disastrous effects of the equinoctial storm, Sept. 23, 1S15, and till now familiarly referred to as the " great September gale."

To relieve himself from the losses thus occasioned, Mr. Leonard resolved to remove to what was then considered the far West, but now the State of Indiana. He accordingly started with his family and such household goods as could be conveyed with the small conveniences then afforded for transportation, and was proceeding upon the Ohio River, when in the month of December, 1818, his health had become so poor that he was forced to land and take up his abode in what was then a little village, called Laconia, situated about one mile and a half from the Ohio River, in Boone township, Harrison Co., Ind., where on the 22d of July, 1819, he died.

It was his intention to have settled in Vincennes, on the Wabash River, then the most important town in Indiana, but his death frustrated that design, and his widow, with her children, went to Kentucky, where one of the daughters became the wife of Hon. David Merriwether, who subsequently became Governor of New Mexico. Another daughter married Hon. William P. Thomasson, a member from Kentucky of the Twenty-eighth and Twenty-uinth Coagrcsses of the nation.

A third daughter became the wife of Dr. Charles Hay, and as such she also became the mother of Col. John M. Hay, the poet and journalist, who graduated at Brown University, at Providence, R. I., in 1858, and was assistant secretary to President Lincoln iu 1861 ; aid to Gen. Hunter; secretary of legation at Paris from 1865 to 1867; charge-d'affaires at Vienna from 1867 to 1868 ; secretary of legation at Madrid from 1869 to 1870 ; author of " Pike County Ballads" and " Castilian Days."

Tlie daughter who mairieiJ Governor Merriwether became the mother of William Merriwotlier, United States marshal for the district of Kentucky.

The daughter who married Hon. William P. Thomasbou was the mother of Charles L. Thoina.sson, wlio commanded a Union regiment called the " Louisville Legiou," at the liead of which he gave his life a sacrifice in the Union cause at the battle of Chickamauga.

Zenas Lockwood Leonard was a descendant, in the fifth generation, of Solomon Leonard, who emigrated from Holland about 16.-!0, and is believed to have been a member of John Robinson's congregation at Leyden. He first settled in Duxbury, and afterwards became an original proprietor and one of the first settlers of Bridgcwater.

Zenas Lockwood Leonard was the second of thirteen children, being a brother of Rev. David A. Leonard, whose biography has just been given, and was born at Bridgewater, Mass., Jan. 1(5, 1773.

His early years were pas.sed on liis father's farm, where he aci(uired habits of industry and knowledge of agriculture that he turned to good account in alter life.'

In March, 1790, when he w;us about seventeen yeai's of age, his mind first became deeply impressed with eternal realities, and about the middle of June following he obtained evidence, as he believed, of a renovated heart.

For a short time he was somewliat perplexed and agitated on the subject of baptism, but finally became satisfied that immersion is the scriptural mode of administering that ordinance, and he was accordingly baptized in tliut on the 1st of July following, and immediately after connected liimself with the First Baptist Cliurch in Middleboro', then under the pastoral care of the Rev. Isaac Backus, of which his excellent mother had been a member for several years.

Shortly after this he commenced a course of study preparatory to entering college. He was assisted partly by his elder brother, David A. Leonard, then a member of Brown University, and partly by the Rev. Dr. Fobes, a professor in the same university, but having his residence and pastoral ciiarge in the adjoining town of Raynham, and during part of the time he studied without an instructor and in connection with his labors upon the farm.

In May, 179-, he was admitted to the sophomore class of Brown University, and during his whole college course was distinguished for diligence in study, exemplary deportment, and uarnest piety. He graduated with honor in September, 1794.

On leaving college he commenced a course of theological study under the direction of the Rev. William Williams, of Wrentham, Mass.. but at the urgent request of his friends he began almost immediately to preach, being regularly licensed according to the order of his denomination by the church in Bridgewater.

He spent the next winter in Sandwich and .some of the adjoining places, and early in the spring was permitted to take part in a powerful revival of religion in Provincetown, a place situated on the extreme northwestern point of Cape Cod.

After this he went, by invitation, to Tuinpleton, and remained there about two months, wlion he determined to prosecute what he had previously meditated, - a tour through the New Kiighiud States and the State of New York.

He accordingly set out; but on arriving at Sturbridge, Mass., at the close of his second day's journey, he was led to abandon the project, and accept an invitation' to preacli to the Baptist Church in that tuwn. On the 30tli of January, 179C, he received a unanimous call from the church and society to become their pastor, and, having accepted it, he was cndaiucd on the loth of September following, tlie Rev. Dr. Baldwin, of Boston, preaching the ordination sermon. With such zeal and energy did Mr. Leonard now apply himself to the work of the miui.slry that his health soon began to fail, and in the summer of 1797 he was obliged to suspend his labors i'or several months, which he spent upon the sea-shore.

In the autumn lie was so much improved that he commenced a grammar school in the immediate vicinity of his own dwelling, which he continued, with one or two exceptions, for thirteen succe.'-sive .season.s, and for several years he had in his family a number of young men fitting for college or, more immediately, for some of the higher walks of active usefulness.

In the spring of 1798 his health again became very feeble, and serious fears were enturtained of an incipient disease of the lungs, which luight oblige him to desist from public speaking altogether.

Afterwards he journeyed into the northern p;irt of Vermont, and in the autumn made a visit to C.i|ie Cod ; but his health still continued feeble.

About this time he resumed his early habit of regular labor in the open air, and this was the nuans of restoring him to a comfortable state of health, which continued till near the close of his life.

Their first meeting was held at Charlton, Sept. 30, 1802, and for more than a quarter of a century he was one of the leading spirits of that body.

He enii.stcd with great zeal for the promotion of several of the prominent benevolent objects of the day, particularly the Sabbath-school, the temperance cause, and the cause of African colonization, and was president of the society for Worcester County and vicinity, auxiliary to the Baptist Board of Missions.

It was his often-expressed desire that he might not outlive the period of his usefulness ; and it was a mysterious dispensation of Providence that while in the midst of vigorous uianhood he was visited with a malady (softening of the brain) which gradually brought a cloud over his intellect.

On the 13th of October, 1832, he was, by his own request, dismissed from the immediate charge of the congregation, which he had ably and faithfully served during a period of thirty-six years.

The next year the citizens of the town signified their continued confidence in his fidelity and ability by electing him fur the sixth time to represent them in the Council of the State.

It hud been his custom to visit annually his pious mother, and the friends and home of his youth, in the eastern part of the State, and generally in going or returning, to attend commencement at Brown University.

His last journey thither was made in 1833. In the autumn of 1835, accompanied by his son, he made a tour through a part of New Hampshire and Veriuimt, which he seemed greatly to enjoy, but was glad to return home to rest.

The productions of his pen, that have been printed and published, are circular letters to the Sturbridge As.sociation, for the years 1802, 1810, 1822, and 1825, and an oration delivered on the 4th of July, 181G.

He graduated at Brown University, at Providence, R. I., in 1794, and was from 1819 to 1331 a member of the board of trustees of that institution.

In hia twenty-fourth year he was licensed to preach the gospel, and after laboring two years with the church in Hartford, Conn., as a stated supply, he was ordained in 1798 as their pastor, preaching to them at first in " an upper room" in the old court-house.

The church, however, soon secured a convenient place of worship, which, though humble in its appearance and rough in its furniture, was found to be a true Bethel, - the house of God and very gate of heaven.

At this time Mr. Nelson was the only liberally educated Baptist minister in Connecticut, and there is no doubt that hia accurate scholarship, courteous manners, and consistent piety served greatly to aid in the establishment and increase of the Baptist Church in Hartford.

He was actively engaged in the remarkable revival of religion that occurred about the close of the last century, and which added so many converts to the churches of all denominations in Hartford and elsewhere.

On that account he was in the most friendly and intimate relations with Doctors Strong and Flint, at that time the only Congregational ministers in Hartford, and cheerfully co-operated with them in the cause of Christ.

Though 31 r. Nelson's pastoral charge was in Hartford, his occasional labors extended to several of the neighboring towns, particularly Middletown, and the First Baptist Church in Upper Middletown (now Cromwell) was established by his eflforts.

Mr. Nelson, as well as several other prominent Baptist clergymen of that day, was not only the firm friend but open advocate of civil and religious liberty as the inalienable birthright of the human soul ; and during his residence in Hartford took an active part in preparing and urging upon the public attention the " Baptist Petition," a remonstrance addressed to the Connecticut Legislature complaining of the civil disabilities which " Dissenters" from the " Standing Order" were compelled to suffer, and urging upon them the great doctrine of absolute "soul liberty," in other words, the entire freedom of conscience worship and action in the domain of religion, which petition, coustuntly pressed by the Baptists and other lovers of liberty who united witli them, at last severed in Coiineeticut tlie union of Church and State, by sccurinij that constitution of civil government which in 1818 gave to all equal civil and religious rights.

At the first election <if Mr. Jefferson to the Presidency of the United States, Mr. Nelson was appointed, with others, by the Daubury (now the Hartford) Bapii.'it Atsociation, in behalf of that body, to prepare and forward to him a congratulatory addrc-s, recognizing his acknowledged attachment to civil and religious liberty.

In 1801, Mr. Nelson resigned his cliarge in Hartford, and became for a number of years principal of a huge and flourishing academy at Mount Pleasant, now Sing Sing, N. Y., at the same time taking cliarge of an infant church iu that village.

Both the church and academy flourished under his cure until the war with Great Britain came on, in consci|uence of which he removed in 1815 to Attleboro', Mass., where an extensive revival took place under his labors, which brought into the church upwards of a hundred and fifty persons. After this he had charge for a short time successively of the churches in Plymouth, Mass., and Canton, Conn.

During the first year of his residence there he took charge of the church in Bclchertowu, but, being unable on account of the distance to perform the duties to his own satisfaction, he resigned it.

The illness of which he died, which was erysipelas ill the head, lasted but six days. He died at Amherst, on the 8th of December, 1853, in the eightysecond year of his age.

For what has been presented concerning the Rev. Zenas Lockwood Leonard and Rev. Stephen Smith Nelson we are indebted to that valuable work entitled Annals of the American Pulpit."

George Leonard was a son of Eliakim Leonard and wile, Mary Williams, and boru at Raynham, Mass., Aug. 17, 18l)2. In the autumn of 1819 tlie subject of this sketch commenced study with a view to prepare for college, pursuing the same under the direction of Uev. Silas Hall.

In the early part of the year 1820 he made a profession of religion, and was admitted to membership in the First Calvinistic Baptist Church of Middleboro', and entering Brown University the same year, he there graduated in 1824. He was in Augu.-^t, 182('), ordained pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Salem, continuing iu that field of labor about two years and a half. While at Salem, Mr. Leonard filled the office of secretary of the Salem Bible Translation and Foreign Mission Societj'. Rov. George Leonard was on the 12th of July, 1827, united in marriage with Abigail C. Nelson, a daughter uf Rev, Kbeiiczer Nelson. Rev. George Leonard died in Worcester, Mass., Aug. 11, 1831.

The successive pastors of the First Calvinistic Baptist Church iu Middleboro' since the ducease of Rev. Isaac Backus have been as follows : VjZv.i Kendall, Samuel Abbot, Jeremiah Kelly, A.-^a Nilcs, Silas Hall, James Andeni, Lorenzo Tandy, Samuel Kichardson, Alexander McLean, and Joseph Hutchiiisun, the last-named of whom died deeply lamented, after a ministry to this people of ten years.

The Second Baptist Church. - The records of this church are said to have been lost. Tradition has preserved a few facts, but for its early history we are mainly indebted to the pen of Rev. Isaac Backus, who thereby informed that the rise of the Second Baptist Cliurch in Middleboro' was as follows :

Mr. Thomas Nelson, who was born in the town June 6, 167G, just before Philip's war broke out, removed into that part of it called Assawonisctt Neck iu 1717, about which time he joined the First Baptist Church in Swansea, as his wife also did, Aug. 5, 1723. In 1753 he and his sons, with a few more, set up a meeting at lii.s house, and obtained Mr. Ebenezer Hinds to preach to them.

" Four miles southwestward from thence Mr. James Mead was ordained pastor of a Separate Church in 1751; but he died in 1756, after which the body of his church became Baptists, and Mr. Ilind.s' hearers joined with them and ordained him their paator Jan. 2G, 1758.

" Mr. Nelson died before this church was formed, in his eightieth year; but his wife, Mrs. Hope Nelson, lived to be a member of it and coinniuncd with them at the Lord's table after she was a hundred years old.

Mr. Backus further informed that Thomas Nelson, who had been a member of the worshiping congregation under the ministry of Rev. Thomas Palmer, discovered in the character and conduct of the latter such evils as caused him to examine the Scriptures concerning the principles of the Congregational denomination, and failing to find in God's written word what he deemed to be a proper authority for infant baptism, Mr. Nelson became a Baptist, and went and joined the First Baptist Church in Swansea, from which, many years after, he transferred his member- bhip to the First Baptist Ciiurch in Rehuboth. The history of tiiis Second Baptist Churcii of Middkboro' furiii.ihes much valuable infurmatioo ; but as the entire turritory where its members resided (or at least nearly all of tliem) was more than thirty years since set oH from Middleboro', and became the township of Lukeville, it may, with a considerable claim of propriety, be sliown that the history of that church ou^ht to be presented in connection with what herein appears pertaining to Lakeville instead of Middleboro'.

The Third Baptist Church. - This church was formed Aug. 4, 17G1, and at first consisted of ten persons, six of whom had been members of the Fii-st Baptist Church of Middleboro', and one of the Second Baptist Church, and the otlier three had not probably before been members of any church.

Mr. Ebenezer Jones preached to this religious body for a time, and on the 28th of October, 17G1, was ordained as pa&tor. Mr. Backus said " a revival of religion came on among them the next spring, which prevailed through the year and spread into many other societies ; the good fruits whereof were long visible.

" Yet some evil behavior in Mr. Jones' wife, which drew him into a snare, caused a great division in the church and society in 1763, which terminated in his removal from them, and lie traveled and preached ia various parts of our land until he died in the county of Albany, in September, 1791."

The chief offense of Mrs. Jones appears to have been the spreading of evil reports against the deacon of the church. These coming to light involved the whole church in dissension. Some have charged a part of the blame to other parties than Mrs. Jones and her husband.

The Rev. Isaac Backus, in a letter still preserved, said, Concerning this unhappy affair, " Gospel rule was greatly disregarded on both sides ;" and the same authority, writing to a son of Mr. Jones, said, " Your father often confes.sed his faults. His wife also appeared to repent of her faults, and I had hope in her death. I preached at her funeral August 13th, 17G0."

The next pastor of this Third Baptist Church in Middleboro' was Rev. Asa Hunt, whose biography has already herein been presented in connection with the history of the First Baptist Church in this town. He was born at Braintree in July, 1744, ordained pastor of tliis church Oct. 30, 1771. A revival of religion commenced here in March, 178U, that continued until September of that year, thus causing an addition to the church of one hundred and thirteen members. Mr. Hunt's labors were also blessed in preaching at Marshfield, for, in a letter dated March 5, 1781, he wrote, " At Marshfield, last week, I preached five sermons and baptized six persons. The work increases. I left a number under powerful convictions. The handful of brethren arc joyful and lively, and much encouraged. There is considerable opposition, but some persons of note are brought to favor the work."

Concerning the remarkable work of grace that was felt in Middleboro' under the preaching of Rev. Asa Hunt, the report that this Third Baptist Church made to the Warren Association in September, 1780, bears the following testimony :

" In our letters for several yeara past we had to hiiuent tlie sad decay of religion araonj^ us, and the abounding of Iniquity, wliich in Ibu lost year increased to ttle greatest degi-ee ever known in this place.

"But, blessed bo God, things have taken auullicr turn this year, for when sin, the great enemy of mankind, was coming ia like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord hu^ lifted up a standard against him.

"About the middle of March, on a Lord's day, in the afternoon, there appeared a very visible alteration in the face of the whole assembly ; they were all attention to the Word, and concern was difcovered in their countenances, which increased, so that by the beginning of April several scores of persons appeared under deep concern about their souls and eternal salvation.

" And since the work began we have reason to hope that about one hundred souls have been turned from darkness to light, and eighty-three have been baptized.

'* If is very remarkable in our view to gee so many suddenly turned from durknesa to light, and have such a clear understanding of the natureof religion, and so ready to practice what they know.

*' We have been remarkably free from disorders, by means of which those who appeared to oppose this work (who are cbielly of another denomination), and were wailing to see how things turned out, have seen such things as have greatly stilled ami convinced them.

"Thus has it pleaaed our gracious God to visit a most unworthy people, and after a dark night of sorrow and mourning to make us glad with bia salvation."

" God is doing wonders amongst us. We have baptized eleven, and there are not far from thirty more hopefully brought into liberty. The work had increased from the beginning; this week has brought forth more than any time before, and yesterday was such a time as I never saw." lie doubtless meant to have said such as he never before saw, and under the :rame dale hu continued, -

'* Alter the worship \wa.3 over at the meuting-houae a body of thu (rcople repaired to luy house, and we begun to sing and pray. Tlie divine power was liko Pentecost, and by sunset aix jjersons obtaitied liberty, and such rcjoicin;^ ol' saints and cries of sinners I never heard."

" AVe thou^^ht about ten or twelve days ago that the work was abated, but jinco that it has revived. Numbers are newly struck under conviction, and seem ;is jiowerfully impressed as any we have seen; and some bruuj^ht out, and others who have received comfort understandingly led into baptism, and have clieerfully gone forward in that ordinance. T!ie number is as follows, viz. ; li.iptized on iMay 12th, live; 13th, two; 14tb, one; 23d, three; Juue nth, seventeen ; 27tb, six ; July 5th, eleven ; 1-lth, nine; total, lifty-four. This number have been hopefully converteil since the middle of March, except four or live, lu the num. her arc four boys about twelve years old, three of whom were awakened on the fast day, when you (.Mr. Backus) were with us. I suppose that the whole that have been brougbt in are just about seventy, in our society only."

*'\Vhcn r returned from the Association I found about half a dozen young converts l)rought out clear while I was gone. Six Were baptized last week, and last Lord's day anothei-, a young man, who had been very carelesa, appeared to give as clear, convincing declaration of a work of grace in bis soul as any one out oi ninety which wo have beard among us since the work began.

** \Vhen I think of these things, together with the favor of God to my own soul, I sometiiues conclude myself the hap]>iest man in the world. 0 fur humility and gratitude! 1 have preached three sermons lately at Uoehestor, and our gracious Lord was with me. Sumo were pricked in the heart. I believe the Lord has begun there. The woik goes on gloriously at the Vineyard."

Rev. Samuel Nel.-ion was the third who filled the place (jf pastor in the Third Calvini.-^tic Baptist Church of .MiJdIcboro'. For his biography and an account of hi.s labors here, toicether with the very satisfactory results, see sketch in the history of the First Baptist Church in this town.

The pastors of this Third Baptist Church since the days of Rev. SatuucI Nelson have been Isaac Kimball, William Hubbard, E. C. Messinger, I. W. llorton, Philemon 11. Russoil, Isaac J. Burgess, Mr. Sweet, and William Weeks, the la.st-named of whom coticluded his engagement with this people a short time since, and the pulpit at this lime is not regularly supplied. This churc^l and society have a neat and commodious cliupel, that was erected but a few years since upon the same lot where stood that church cditice, without a steeple, where the Rev. Samuel Nelson and several of his successors in the ministry preached. There may have been and probably were several short pastorates of persons whose names are not given in the foregoing list of pastors of this Third Calviuistie Baptist Church, whose stay was so brief as hardly

The Fourth Calvinistic Baptist Church. - This appears to have been an offshoot from the Second Baptist Church, and for a time was designated and known as United Brethren. It came, however, tu be regarded, as in fact it really was, the Fourth Calvinistic Baptist Churcli in Middleboro'.

Their place of public worship was in that part of the town set ofi" in 1853 and incoipoi;ited aa a uuw and distinct town, and called Lakeville. The church was formed Aug. 19, 1800. Their meeting-house was erected in or about 1796, and was a very fine building for its time. A branch of this church appears to have existed in Raynham. As the church edifice was located in what is now Lakeville, and many, and indeed the most, of the members resided there, its more minute and particular history ha.s been made to constitute a part of the ecclesiastical history of Lakeville, and this is a.ssigncd a.> the reason why this church in its history is disposed of so briefly here. Those readers desiring to see a more prolonged and much fuller account arc respectfully referred to the history of Lakeville.

The Central Baptist Church. - This ehuieh was organized Aug. 13, 1828, and at first collsi:^ted of the following-named members: Levi Peirce, lOlisha Tucker, Molly Leonard, Prudence Holmes, Aiuia Hinds, Sally Peirce, Sally B. Tucker, Thanklul Miller, Patience Barden, Priscilla Tinkhaiu, Rev. Nicholas Rledbury, Jacob Williams, George C. Leonard, Eunice Eaton, and Hannah Jackscpii (2d). Levi Peirce and Jacob Williams were chosen deacons. Rev. Nicholas Medbury, of Seaconk, was settled tus pastor, at a salary of four hundred and seventy-five dollars per year.

In 1829 the following-named persons were added to this church: Eliza Eaton, Susan Lazell, Su.san C. Wilde, William Jenney, Nelson Lincoln, Lorenzo Howard, Virtue Southworth, Eliza W. Crowell, Abigail Record, Eliza A. Drake, Lucy Lazell, Priscilla

In June, 1832, Rev. Nicholas Medbcry was at his own request dismissed from the duties of a pastor of this church, and in September of the same year he was succeeded in the ministerial office by Rev. Ilervcy Fittz, of Hallowell, Me., and he and Angeline A. Fittz were the only additions to the church durinj; that year.

The additions in membership in 1833 were Daniel Makepeace, Stephen Tobey, Amasa T. Thompson, Betsey Thompson, Elizabeth Webster, Nancy B. Bond, Martha S. Smith, Mary Ann Tobey, Sarah P. (Tucker) Jenks, Rev. Henry C. Coombs, Mary Orcutt, and Ancel Wood (3d).

ISill), June 1. Rev. Hervey Fittz closed his labors here, and there was uo settled minister during the remainder of that year, and yet the following were added : Albert T. Mason, Arlina Mason, Fiederick Leonard, Jr., George Barney, Sally Cole, Nancy Vaughan, Hercules Richmond, Slary Richmond, Jonathan Barney, and Margaret Barney.

1837. Jan. 3. Rev. Ebenezer Nelson, of West Cambridge, was settled aa pastor, with a salary of seven hundred dollars per year. The names of those added to this church in 1837 were Rev. Ebenezer Nelson, Rebecca Nelson, Mary Wheeler, Asaualh Williams, and Seth S. Lincoln.

1840. Abigail Thomas, Hepzabah Bloss, Hannah W. Eaton, Mary W. Stockwell, Julia A. Stetson, Sarah Newton, Harriet Holloway, and Elbridge Cole.

IS.jl. In the early part of this year, Rev. Ebenezer Nelson coneluded his labors as pastor of this chureh, aud on the "JSth of March was sueeeeded by Rev. Jonathan Aldrich, of Framingham, who was engaged to preaeh lor the Salary of eight hundred dollars per year. Additions to the ehureh in 1851, Rev. Jonathan Aldrieh, Catharine P. Aldrich, Anna L. Aldrieh, Phebe Blake, Eliza A. Wilbur, Eleanor Bardeu, and Betsey Dunham.

Additions of members in 1855: George Cushnian, Mrs. George Cushman, Louisa Cushmau (3d), Angeline A. Fittz, Harriet A. Fittz, Samuel C. Howes, aud Mrs. S. C. Howes.

1850, January 28. Rev. John F. Bigelow resigned his position of pastor, and the place was not filled until August, 1851), when Rev. Alexander M. Averill, of North Cambridge, was settled, with a .salary of one thousand dollars per year.

18tJ3. In the month of May in this year. Rev. Levi A. Abbot, from Weymouth, was settled as pastor, with a salary of eight hundred dollars jier year, aud this was afterwards increased to nine hundred.

The additions in 1803 were Rev. Levi A. Abbot, Mary A. Abbot, Elisha T. Jenks, William H. Smith, Julia Cole, Sarah J. Keith, Sabrina Ward, Samuel P. Keith, and Almeda Keith.

1864. The additions were Mercy Dunlap, Ephraim Hunt, Samuel P. Hiue, Francis Sharp, Mary Sharp, Lois Leonard, Arnold Leach, Rev. George Carjieiiter, and Lydia B. Sanford.

1865. Clarissa Hayward, Charles J. Morse, Laviua ! N. Morse, Eliza A. Clark, D. Anna Pawn, Mary A. 1 Gay, Fanny M. Drew, Caroline Ryerson, Mary B. 1 Richmond, Mary T. Macomber, Stephen B. Gibbs, ! and Elizabeth M. McKeen.

ISU'J. Li March of this year. Rev. George G. Fairbanks, from South Dedham, was engaged as pastor at a salary of twelve hundred dollars per year. That was afterwards increased to fifteen hundred dollars. The additions to the church that year were Rev. George G. Fairbanks, Caroline M. Fairbanks, Charles E. Jeuney, George E. Parker, Caroline B. Chandler, Susan H. Caswell, Maria W. Brown, Rev. William L. Brown, Elvira F. Jenney, Dorcas Brown, Mary B. Keith, Ruth B. Thomas, Arthur B. Alden, Rebecca L. Leach. Susan 5L Waterman, and Albert Aldeu.

The deacons of this Central Baptist Church in Middleboro', in times past and present, have been and are as follows; Levi Peirce, Jacob Willi;ims, George Vaughan, William S. Peirce, Joseph T. Wood, J. W. P. Jenks: Ira Thomas, and B. J. Babcock. The place of public worship was erected iu 1828, at an expense of about five tliousanJ dollara, and was the liberal gift of Miij. Levi Peirce, one of its original members and first deacons. Two additions were at different times made to this church edifice, at an e.Ypense of about two thousand dollars each, and thus the whole construction account amounts to about nine thousand dollars.

The failing healtii of Rev. George G. Fairbanks caused him, in 18S3, to resign his position as pastor of this church, and he was succeeded, Jan. 31, 1884, by Rev. \V. H. liowen, D.D., from Providence, R. L His salary is fifteen hundred dollars per year.

The lUethodists. - Among the first or earliest movements, if not indeed the vary first, for founding a Methodist Church in Middlcboro' occurred in the month of September, 1823, or about sixty-one years ' ago. A Methodist Church was formed Sept. 15, 1823, ' and at first consisted of Edward Winslow, Nathan I Savary, Alanson Gammons, Nathan Perkins, Deborah Winslow, Martha Thomas, Mercy Barden, Susan S. Clark, and Augusta Clark.

Rev. Asa Kent was the first pastor of this church, and their public worship was for a time conducted in the town hall.' Rev. Mr. Kent remained two years, and was followed by Rev. Isaac Stoddard, who preached uiuc months, and then for a year the church was without a pastor. In 182G and 1827, Rev. Lemuel Thompson was the pastor, and he was succeeded by Rev. Elias C. Scott one year. Rev. David j Culver two years, and during the pastorate of the latter ' (viz., in 1830J the JMothodist mceling-houso near Fall Brook was erected, and a board of trustees chosen, cou- ; sistingof l^eter Vaughan, Cusliman Vaughan, William i Shurtlctf, Nathaniel Thompson, Edward Winslow, ' Nathan Perkins, and Percy Thomas. After 1831 the | successive preachers appear to have been Amos Bin-

' TUc town liiill iit that Uutc :^toott at what U known a^ '* Court End," and waa an anlinu-iLtd buiMiug. .\ltei- the erection of the inescDt elej^imt structure the oM liali wua aold by the town and removed by the purchaser.

Rev. Samuel Whidden caine soon after, and in 1 February, 1865, the place of worship was chanjed to j the Baptist Chapel, that was leased for three years. I In 1866, Rev. F. C. Newhall became the pastor, and I he two years later was succeeded by Rev. Freeman I Ryder, and during whose pastorate the present church j edifice occupied by this church and society was erected j at an expense of twelve thousand five hundred dollars. I Rev. S. T. Patterson was the next pastor, and durj ing the time that he was thus engaged the membership I of this church increased from thirty-six in full com- I munion and four probationers to one hundred and thiity in full communion and twenty-five probationers. The next pastor was Rev. J. S. Carroll, who remained three years, and during which time about fifty were added to the church.

From April, 1876, to 1877, Rev. E. D. Towle was pastor, and more than one hundred persons added to the church by conversion. He was succeeded by Rev. A. W. Kingsbury, who was successful in clearing the church property from a debt by whiuh it had been encumbered.

Rev. G. W. Hunt was the next pastor, and it is to a historic sermon delivered by him Nov. 11, 18S3, that we are almost entirely indebted for the facts presented concerning this Methodist Church and soeiety. The Rev. Mr. Hunt, in that valuable production, said, " From the five full members and three probationers in 1864, at the commencement of Rev. Samuel Whidden's ministry, you have increased to two hundred and seventy-four full members and twenty-eight probatiouers, making a total of three liuiidivd and two, a net increase in nineteen years, of nearly sixteen a year.

" About thirty members of the church have died, one hundred and two removed by letter, ten removed without letters, sixteen withdrawn since 1871.

" This church is greatly indebted to many members of the sister churches for timely aid given and lor words of cheer, and while this child of Providence which they assisted lias grown almost to as lar"-e dimeii.sioiis as themselves, still I do not believe that tiic^ are less strong or have suffeied in any particular through having a Methodist Church growing up at their side.

The Methodist Church at South Middleboro'. - As this church has sometimes been of that branch called the " Reformed" and sometimes of that denomiuated " Episcopal," the tracing of its minute history is rendered exceedingly difficult, and perhaps to a considerable degree impossible. It has, too, for a portion of the time had its pulpit supplied by one or more clergymen of another denomination. From the scanty materials now attainable we gather the evidence that as early as 1847 the pulpit was supplied by the Rev. T. Brown, who remained thus engaged for several years, and then for a time the supply was only temporary (until 1858), when Rev. E. W. Barrows, a clergyman of the Christian Baptist denomination, settled here as a regular supply to the pulpit, and remained several years.

In 1869 the pastor was Rev. Isaac B. Fobes ; 1870, Rev. Benjamin L. Sayer, who remained four years, and was succeeded, in 1874, by Rev. Philip Ciandon. Mr. Sayer died March 22, 1876, aged fifty-one years. Mr. Crandon died April 6, 1876, aged sixty-six years.

In 1S7G the pulpit was supplied by Rev. Charles Stokes, who remained two years. He died April 26, 1881, in the twenty-ninth year of his ministry, and being fifty-four years of age.

In 1878 came Rev. J. Sherman, and remained until 1881, when succeeded by Rev. 0. K. Hi^gins, who remained one year, and was, in 1882, succeeded by the present pastor. Rev. Solomon P. Snow, a native of Brewster, Barnstable Co., M:iss. He was born Aug. 10, 1811. He entered the ministry in 1837. He is of the eighth generation from the emigrant Nicholas Snow. Thanks are due to Rev. Mr. Snow for information kindly furnished pertaining to the history of this church.